the chase
by negotiate
Summary: AU. There was a guy chasing her. A really, really hot guy. Too bad it was under a completely different set of circumstances. Sakura really didn't know what to think.


**notes. **First Naruto fanfiction, and well, scratch that. First fanfiction in a long, long time. _Naruto_ doesn't belong to me.

**the chase**

* * *

This was ridiculous, Sakura scoffed. It had already been half a day—surely he would have gotten tired of chasing her by now? Three times now the boy (not a boy, she corrected herself. _Definitely _not a boy, oh no. He was most surely a _man_.) had caught up to her, and three times now she had to rack her brain and come up with impromptu escape routes in the span of seconds. Not that it was any trouble for her. Sakura knew she was a smart girl; hell, she wouldn't had became this good at her side-profession if she wasn't.

Really now, looking back, she would never have imagined herself to be doing this. In nicer terms, she was a hired professional that helped people get things from other people, but really, she was just simply a professional thief. It had started out easily enough—Medical school was a bitch to pay for, and Sakura had sworn to be self-sufficient, so asking her parents for money had been entirely out of the question. Ino, her best friend, had some shady connections that brought Sakura to this current part-time job… And the rest was history.

Sakura was a good girl through and through: good grades, generally popular, nice and somewhat innocent (though most would call it naivety). No one would ever imagine _Haruno Sakura_, medical student extraordinaire, the responsible, good girl throughout Konoha U, to be a world-class thief, right? Perhaps that was why she was so good at her job. After all, she was the most _unlikely_ person in the world to be in such a profession.

Turning into an out of the way alleyway, Sakura put her hood back and ran a hand through her pink hair. It felt good to finally feel unrestricted by the stupid hood, and to take a break from running. Sakura mentally resolved to never, _ever_, play a game of hide-and-seek ever again. It really felt as though she had been playing the hider for days, although that was rather dramatic considering it had only been half a day. Sakura sighed. Running for half a day around the city really took a lot out of a girl.

**.**

"Found you."

Sakura whipped her head around to face the source of her exhaustion. She was well aware that she was trapped—the alleyway she had run into had only one exit, and that exit was currently blocked by what had had to be the most handsome man alive. The man had dark hair that oddly spiked at the back, aristocratic features, and cool onyx eyes. He was even _prettier_ than she was, damn it. Her life _sucked_. The most attractive human being Sakura had ever laid eyes on had to be the one she was currently trying to avoid. Under a different set of circumstances, she was sure she would be throwing herself at him by now, and her mind was definitely agreeing with that point.

"Uh, hi?"

She took a moment to glare at the man. Didn't he ever get tired? She had avoided him for half a day, but that also meant that he had been chasing her for half a day as well. What was so _infuriating_ about it all was that the man wasn't even as much _panting_. He simply stood there, as if he had just finished a slow jog or a long, leisurely walk around the city. Sakura, on the other hand, was sweating and almost gasping for breath. Nope, _definitely_ not how she had expected to look when presented with the Most Attractive Guy on the Planet (and probably Beyond). She needed to think of a distraction, and fast, before she surrendered the document to him and ran straight into his arms (whereby they'd run into the sunset and elope the ci—no, _no, _now wasn't the time for her to daydream).

**.**

"Are you single?"

The man arched an eyebrow, and Sakura wanted to just melt and die there and then. Why, oh why, did she have the habit of saying things before thinking them through? And then a hint of a smirk passed his (sexy, _sexy_) lips, and Sakura was charmed.

"Hn."

What the hell did 'hn' mean? She realized too late that she'd voiced it out loud, but the man merely shrugged and took a step closer to her. She instinctively backed up one step, only to meet the back of a wall. Well, _shit_. She was trapped. Like, really trapped. With-definitely-no-escape kind of trapped.

"Stop shouting into my ear, dobe. I can hear you fine, I've got her."

Wait, what?

"Not you," he looked up at her and scowled. Sakura made an indignant grumble under her breath. True, she had that thought, but she was sure she didn't voice it out loud! What was he, some form of_ mind reader_? "Tch. Your thoughts and emotions are written all over your face." Okay, she was sure. He was definitely a mind reader. Well, whatever. Mind reader and hunk or not, Sakura wasn't going to hand over the document. She never failed a job, and this wasn't about to be her first. She contemplated her situation for a moment. She had done judo in the past, but the man in front of her had muscles that screamed pro-athlete, and Sakura wasn't as stupid as to doubt it. It would be nigh impossible to fight her way through. The only method of escape she had left was to go for a bluff, however slim the chances were of him falling for it.

"I-if you're looking for the document, I don't have it on me anymore! It's with the employer already, so you can forget about it!" Inwardly, Sakura prayed. Hopefully this guy was an idiot and wouldn't see through her—

"You're a terrible liar. And no, I'm not interested in the document. I'm interested in you."

**.**

Well, no shit, she _knew_ she was a terrible liar, but did he have to call her out and—whoa whoa whoa wait, _wait a second, did he just say he was.. _Sakura's eyes widened in shock and she was just _sneakily_ preparing to throw herself at him with repeated _yes yes yes I'm interested in you too let's hook up and go out right now and_ when he grimaced and shattered her fantasies with a "No, not like that—shut up dobe, you know I didn't mean that" and "I meant, the organization I'm with is interested in you, don't get the wrong idea".

Well, that was a _terrible_ blow to a girl's ego.

Despite her inward flailing and her shattered ego, Sakura was proud that her voice still came out calm and even. "Organization? Sounds shady. What kind of organization is it? The kind that hunts down innocent, young girls for half a day just to get them to join?"

The man smirked. "Hn. Firstly, you're far from innocent. You stole the document, remember? And secondly, we're an organization of people like you. Professional, world-class thieves."

He was arrogant, that much was as obvious as his good looks. "Why me? I'm just one girl. I bet there are others out there who are better at this job."

"You're good at this. No one's been able to avoid me for half a day, especially after stealing _my _mission assignment. And if you haven't noticed, your pink hair is pretty attention-seeking. It's a wonder you were able to avoid us for this long."

So the man wanted to play offensive now. Fine! She could be snarky and mean too! "Tsk, _obviously_. I am rather skilled at this after all. However, I can't just agree to joining an organization without knowing anything about it. For example, what's the working hours and the pay like? Working alone pays very well, you know. I wonder if your organization can match up to that."

"Hn. You don't have to worry about the pay, I'm sure you'll be satisfied. The boss wants to meet you at one of our safehouses, and I'm tasked to bring you there."

"What makes you so sure I'd go with you? For all I know, you could be some rapist or something! I don't even know your name."

He gave her a look that practically screamed _what a complete idiot_, but Sakura merely glared back. "Tch. Annoying. Uchiha Sasuke." He turned and began to walk away, while Sakura trailed behind, careful to keep a safe distance that would allow her to escape if necessary. She _was _rather intrigued about the whole organization business, but there was the possibility of the guy—Sasuke—lying to her as a guise to get the document. It seemed too much of a hassle to plan this much for that document, though, and this led Sakura to believe him.

"And no, I'm not going to rape you." There was a slight pause, before he continued. "Not interested."

**_..._**

_Oh, _that did it.

"Sasuke?" she called, voice coy.

"Hn. What?"

_PUNCH. _Sasuke caught the punch, but Sakura was sure her punch would leave a bruise on his palm.

"What the hell?" he glared at her. "What was that for?"

"For making me feel like a hunted animal for half a day, and for being a _complete jerkass_!"

Sakura stormed off. That would teach him! Who did he think he was, messing with her?

**.**

"Hey."

When she didn't respond, Sasuke caught up and lightly tapped her shoulder. Sakura turned around.

"WHAT? AND I HAVE A NAME, YOU ASSHOLE. IT'S SAKURA, NOT HEY. GET THAT RIGHT." Sakura stormed off yet again, this time satisfied that she'd taught him a lesson, until…

"Hn. Sakura."

"WHAT?"

...

"You're going the wrong way."

* * *

**notes. **So, tell me what you think? Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!


End file.
